My wife pointed out a monster catching and raising game on iOS with the question, “Isn’t this what you’re trying to do?”

No. It’s not. See, here’s my design philosophy: I make the games I want to play. If someone else has made it already, I don’t have that unrequited desire to make the game, as I can requite said desire any time I like. Or at least as soon as I save up the cash to buy it.

Ergo, every game I intend to make has never been done before. Most are variations on things that have been done before. But all are, in some way, original.

As I gain skill and a feel for the market, I intend to expand my rubric: I intend to make games that lots of people, including myself, want to play. Once again, games they want to play because they don’t exist yet.